PUBLICATIONS

Stay InformedRegister with NCJRS to receive NCJRS's biweekly e-newsletter JUSTINFO and additional periodic emails from NCJRS and the NCJRS federal sponsors that highlight the latest research published or sponsored by the Office of Justice Programs.

NCJRS Abstract

The document referenced below is part of the NCJRS Library collection. To conduct further searches of the collection, visit the NCJRS Abstracts Database. See the Obtain Documents page for direction on how to access resources online, via mail, through interlibrary loans, or in a local library.

Three studies tested various aspects of the P300-CIT (Concealed Information Test), which is an event-related version of a credibility assessment tool that detects when a suspect in a criminal investigation recognizes crime-relevant information.

Abstract:

The first study found that innocent individuals informed about the details of a mock trial responded to the P300 CIT similarly to guilty individuals. This demonstrates the importance of controlling the release of crime-relevant information in the field. If details of a crime are leaked to the general public, the accuracy of the test can be compromised, and false-positives are likely. The second study provided evidence that pictorial stimuli related to the crime may provide an advantage over verbal descriptions or stimuli related to the features of the crime. There was also evidence that focusing on central details of the crime as stimuli gain a stronger response than peripheral details. The third study examined the effect of countermeasures (CMs) used by a subject in attempting to defeat the P300-CIT. CMs are cognitive mechanisms used by a subject in an attempt to covertly block “guilty” responses that show familiarity with crime features. This study found that a subject needs to use only a single, simple, repeated CM in an attempt to defeat the test, rather than a more elaborate and complex strategy for each stimulus presented by the examiner. Thus, it is important that the examiner find ways to focus a participant’s or suspect’s attention on the probe stimulus in order to overcome the neutralizing effect of a CM. This report advises that given the amount of research being conducted on the P300-CIT and the number of researchers who currently support its use, the time is near for its first application in a criminal investigation in the United States. 12 tables, 15 figures, and 95 references

*A link to the full-text document is provided whenever possible. For documents not available online, a link to the publisher's website is provided. Tell us how you use the NCJRS Library and Abstracts Database - send us your feedback.

Find in a Library

You have clicked
. A title search of
WorldCat, the world's largest library network, will start when you click
"Continue." Here you will be able to learn if libraries in your community have the document you need. The results will open in a new browser and your NCJRS session will remain
active for 30 minutes. Learn More.

You have selected:

This article appears in

In WorldCat, verify that the library you select has the specific journal volume and issue in which the article appears. Learn How.

You are about to access WorldCat, NCJRS takes no responsibility for and exercises no control over the WorldCat site.